US Ham in Walmart Gun Hoax

Another US amateur radio operator is in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Ham radio operator Keith J. Mutch (KB1RBI), 35, of Norwich CT, is due in court today to be charged with an alleged prank. Apparently a Walmart employee reported hearing the report of a man with a shotgun on a portable radio used by store employees. Nine officers armed with rifles, shotguns and ballistic shields were dispatched to search the 220 Salem Turnpike store, which was open for business at the time, but nothing was found.

On May 5, during an investigation in to an unrelated incident, police took a statement from a former girlfriend of Mutch who said Mutch had sent the transmission over a radio from a car at a nearby McDonald’s. Mutch denied any involvement, but statements from three passengers implicating Mutch.